I started learning French when I was in 8th grade, which was longer ago than I care to admit. I had a pretty good teacher – Ms. Armitage was entertaining, she focused a lot on repetition so we actually learned some things, and she used some engaging songs to help things stick. By the time […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Grace with Structure: A Smarter Way to Handle Late Work
“Hey, Mrs. K… I was looking at my grade, and I noticed I have some zeroes. Can I get some bonus points for work?”Who hasn’t had this conversation? I used to get so annoyed keeping track of late work and constantly being put in the “bad guy” role—even though they were the ones who didn’t […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Relational Data: What We Should Be Tracking Besides Grades and Referrals
Leigh Reagan Alley, Ed.D. is Coordinator of Teacher Education at the University of Maine at Augusta, where she designed the first dedicated Master of Arts in Teaching Whole Child Education. She is the former executive director of Maine ASCD, an architect of the xSELeratED Schools Framework, an Advisor for the Institute for Humane Education, and […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Stifled By Standards? Get Creative!
In a standards-based learning environment, it may seem that exploratory, open-ended learning doesn’t fit. Standards are pre-determined pathways. They can feel rigid and narrow. In contrast, curiosity-driven learning naturally ventures into unpredictable territory. That’s the beauty of it. That unpredictable territory is where new ideas emerge, and creativity thrives. Back in 2006, Sir Ken Robinson […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
AFT, Brighton Park Neighborhood Council sue U.S. Department of Education over termination of community school grants
The AFT and the Brighton Park Neighborhood Council (BPNC) filed a lawsuit ( Brighton Park Neighborhood Council et al. v. McMahon et al.) on December 29 challenging the U.S. Department of Education’s decision to terminate millions of dollars in funding for Full-Service Community Schools that offer wrap-around services for some of the country’s most impoverished and rural communities. […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education
Chasing a different STAAR: HB8 changes to state testing for elementary and middle schooL students in Texas
I remember the exact moment. It was June 2023, right after the last bell rang on a Friday afternoon. My colleague stuck her head in my classroom door, grinning. “Did you hear? They killed the STAAR!” We’d been teaching under the weight of the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness for over a decade. […]
Posted inSpecial Education
Hope in the Margins: Teaching special education in one of Tennessee’s poorest counties
I grip my coffee cup as I drive across the ridge lines that roll and dip like frozen waves. Mist cloaks the forest in a gauzy blur, and the faint scent of pine drifts through the cab of my car. I can feel the chill creeping through my jacket, seeping into my fingers despite the […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
We’re back from break — and these are the things teachers are leaving in 2025
There’s a specific kind of clarity that hits teachers right after a break. You’re rested enough to think again, but not rested enough to believe everything will suddenly be different. You remember what you love about teaching… and also exactly what you’re no longer willing to entertain. As we head back into classrooms in 2026, […]